making a laminated recurve bow
making a laminated recurve bow
09-29-2011, 04:47 AM
#2
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 113
Bingham Projects is the probably the best bet for learning how to make a laminated recurve. They have the materials and I think videos to help you. The direct clickable link is below.
http://www.binghamprojects.com/
http://www.binghamprojects.com/
10-02-2011, 06:53 PM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 15,296
I think making your own requires some fairly expensive equipment. Selfbows are another option--properly made, they will shoot with most laminated bows and out-shoot many. Gary Davis of Rattlestick Bows has an in-depth video on making them.
Chad
Chad
10-04-2011, 03:19 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: central and east texas
Posts: 4,894
10-05-2011, 04:32 AM
#7
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 78
I got my first batch of supplies from Old Master Crafters but, there are several others out there. They had all the supplies (epoxy, laminates, wedges, etc.) as well as some basic blue prints for various bows. Check them out and ask some questions then order a few pieces for patterns.
Go conservative at first. My first had a beautiful burled walnut riser, laminated with cherry and bubinga, and maple with walnut wedges and clear glass limbs. Beautiful bow - pulled 97# at 28" though. Looks good on the wall.
Go conservative at first. My first had a beautiful burled walnut riser, laminated with cherry and bubinga, and maple with walnut wedges and clear glass limbs. Beautiful bow - pulled 97# at 28" though. Looks good on the wall.
10-11-2011, 07:10 AM
#9
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Maryland
Posts: 31
I've been looking to do this too. The first problem is the design. How thick to make the laminations and whether to taper them or not. oldfatguy apparently ran into that problem too.
Bingham has a chart on their website of thicknesses for various types and lengths of bows.
A well tuned bandsaw is the first step, but you have to have a way to make each layer exactly the same thickness in both limbs. This is where an overhead sander is necessary. You don't need one of the expensive machines. A drill press or table saw can be set up to do this, but it takes really careful adjustment to be sure the lams are square and parallel. Also, I've seen some home made sanders that work well.
There are a couple of glues that most bowyers use. Smooth On epoxy is the standard.
There are some videos available on this subject. If you don't want to buy them you can rent from Smartflix. There are a lot of videos on youtube too.
Related to design is your form and clamping method. Several videos show how to build this. It has to be pretty precise and match on both ends. And you need the right amount of pressure to be sure you get good adhesion. Too little & you get voids in the glue layer. To much and the glue squeezes out (glue starved joint). Both will lead to failure.
After that comes the hot box for curing the epoxy. Poor Folks Bows has a cheap one that works well if you are not trying to set up for larger production runs.
Bingham also has inexpensive plans for several types of bows.
Hope this helps,
Allen
Bingham has a chart on their website of thicknesses for various types and lengths of bows.
A well tuned bandsaw is the first step, but you have to have a way to make each layer exactly the same thickness in both limbs. This is where an overhead sander is necessary. You don't need one of the expensive machines. A drill press or table saw can be set up to do this, but it takes really careful adjustment to be sure the lams are square and parallel. Also, I've seen some home made sanders that work well.
There are a couple of glues that most bowyers use. Smooth On epoxy is the standard.
There are some videos available on this subject. If you don't want to buy them you can rent from Smartflix. There are a lot of videos on youtube too.
Related to design is your form and clamping method. Several videos show how to build this. It has to be pretty precise and match on both ends. And you need the right amount of pressure to be sure you get good adhesion. Too little & you get voids in the glue layer. To much and the glue squeezes out (glue starved joint). Both will lead to failure.
After that comes the hot box for curing the epoxy. Poor Folks Bows has a cheap one that works well if you are not trying to set up for larger production runs.
Bingham also has inexpensive plans for several types of bows.
Hope this helps,
Allen
Last edited by aread; 10-11-2011 at 07:17 AM.
10-31-2011, 08:04 PM
#10
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 17
hey thanks allen, the one nice thing about all of this for me anyway is that i know a guy that owns a cabinet shop with a $75,000 overhead sander so iam pretty sure that thing could get my tapers but he lives about 60 miles from our house so its not like i can just go over and sand a couple lams down. and i already have a hotbox built got it to stay at 145 to 155 degrees for quite while .then i have built a form, got some c clamps, and got the metal for the form "pressure plate so that the c clamp pressure is evenly distributed" and already messed around with some risers just out of pine 2x4's.
